Glossary
- Interlocutors
- Participants in a conversation.
- Language features
- The language features referred to in this website are individual learner tendencies related to the areas of language proficiency (grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and conversation management) that contribute to the speaking skill of the learner.
- Learner
- Any participants in the videos who are native speakers of English and whose target language is Spanish.
- Proficiency
- Foreign language proficiency is a term used to refer to a person's ability to communicate in the target language. The proficiency level of an individual is not static. Speaking, listening, reading, and writing are language skills that are evaluated when assessing proficiency. This website focuses on speaking, although dialogue also involves listening and understanding.
- Target language
- Any language that an individual is trying to learn, not including native languages.
Links
Other resources related to second language learner proficiency:
- The National Standards for Foreign Language Learning can be found on the ACTFL website.
- COERLL's Introduction to Oral Proficiency Levels is designed to help Spanish language teachers gain an understanding of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines for Speaking and to practice evaluating proficiency levels of Spanish speakers.
- The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) advances the quality of second language teaching, learning, and assessment.
- CARLA offers a battery of proficiency-based second language assessment tools for reading, writing, listening, and speaking called the Minnesota Language Proficiency Assessments (MLPA).
- CARLA has an Instructional Module on National Standards
- The National Capital Language Resource Center (NCLRC) has information on language testing, learning strategies, materials development & methodology, technology, and professional development.
- The Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) provides a range of information, tools, and resources related to language and culture.
- Within the CAL website, the Foreign Language Assessment Directory (FLAD) is a resource for foreign language assessments including information on grade and proficiency levels, languages for which each test is available, skills targeted by a test, information about the test’s development and the publisher’s or developer’s contact information for further inquiries.
- Learner.org has a website titled: Teaching Foreign Languages K-12: A Library of Classroom Practices. This video library from illustrates effective instruction and assessment strategies for the teaching of foreign languages in grades K-12 and "provides overviews of ACTFL’s Standards for Foreign Language Learning and new assessment practices, as well as 27 classroom programs.”
